In the Shadows
by Ray.A.Callen
Summary: Camerons got something to hide. Why is Cameron acting like someones watching her every move? House is starting to wonder what lurks in the shadows for Cameron and what secrets shes keeping... inc Abuse, Language, Rape and other sensitive topics... Abbie x
1. Reasons and Excuses

In the Shadows

**Okay guys, so the wait is finally over, even if it wasn't that long. I had fun writing this and I've decided that this story's chapters are going to be a bit longer than they were in 'Masked Mystery'. I know it might be a bit boring for the first chapter or so but it will get better I promise. **

**Disclaimer: As you all insist on bringing me down to earth I suppose I better tell you how many rights I own. None. That's right; absolutely Zippo. Zilch.**

House watched her walk into the diagnostics office. She was smiling and seemed happy, as usual, but something was off. She was acting normally enough; making coffee, answering his mail. The only thing that made House suspicious was the time. She had arrived after him, and he was an hour and a half late. Cameron was normally early, or so he had heard. After a few minutes of House observing her she got up and knocked on his office's glass door.

House jumped a mile when she knocked; he had been watching her so intently that he hadn't even realised that she had moved from behind her desk and walked towards his office. He grimaced when he realised that he had been staring at her and she had probably knocked to tell him to quit it.

"What?" He called, louder and ruder than necessary. Cameron seemed taken aback by his tone as it took her a moment to compose herself and close her mouth; which had been hanging open after House's comment.

"Um... I was wondering..." She began; still trying to find the confidence House had just rid her of.

"No new cases. We're going on a conference in England this Saturday. How did you not remember that?" House asked, but from Cameron's expression he could tell that she hadn't forgotten; however much she'd wanted to.

"Right... um... about that..." She stuttered and her words were barely audible. Her face was flushed and beads of sweat were beginning to form on her forehead.

"You're going. No excuses. I don't care unless you have a real reason." She shook her head. House had expected just as much but it didn't hurt to try. Now he was sure something was wrong, he wouldn't stop until he found out what. At least he would have a week in England to figure it out. Cameron was still stood there awkwardly. She was looking at the wall that wasn't see-through and looking sort of uncomfortable. "Why are you still here?" House watched as she looked at him and her eyes dropped to the floor almost immediately. Cameron's face was red with embarrassment. She didn't want to go to England, but she couldn't tell House why.

"I... um... I'll go." She shifted on her feet and waited a second before hastily making her way towards the door. Her walk was odd due to the fact that she was shaking slightly. Foreman didn't even look up from the latest medical journal he was reading but Chase realised immediately that something was bothering Cameron. He had been watching her persistently for the best part of three years and even more so after they had sex.

"What's wrong? If you're nervous about the conference in England, don't worry. I've never been out of the country and we're probably not the only ones who are a bit shook up." Cameron smiled at Chase. He had been obsessing with her for a long time but he was still really sweet and she liked that about him. He knew she wouldn't go out with him for just saying that but he did it anyway because he wanted her to feel better.

"Thanks." He would never know why she was so nervous about going to England, or so she hoped. There was no reason he should find out and there was no way she was going to tell him so she would let him believe whatever he wanted to believe. "Um... do you think House would mind if I went home to pack since we don't have a new case?" Foreman looked up at the brunette with suspicion.

"You haven't packed yet?" It was so unlike Cameron to not be prepared for something as big as this. The conference was a little under two days away or at least the flight was. Cameron shifted feet and looked at the ground as she murmured her reply.

"I packed last week. I just need to add some other stuff into my suitcase and get some books for the plane. Make sure I've got my passport and my flight tickets, just last minute stuff like that." Foreman nodded. That made sense enough. He himself needed to get a book for the flight. Luckily he had been seated next to Chase and not next to House, where Cameron was going to be.

When Cameron arrived home she almost regretted leaving work. Her apartment felt empty and she had nothing to do since, as she had told Foreman, she had packed last week. She had two books and a writing pad. She'd left her tickets and passport with her keys on the table by the door, and she'd left a note in the kitchen to remind her where they were in case she forgot last minute. She knew she wouldn't forget, of course, but she had to be prepared for everything.

**I think I'm going to skip a day and go straight to the morning of the flight because I don't want to bore all three of you reading this. So as always, I'd love it if you could review but I probably won't update until Wednesday because I'm going back to school (after been off with a badly sprained ankle) and will have lots of work to catch up with but I will try my best to update as soon as possible. Please do review, even if it's bad it's really good to have constructive criticism to improve my writing and it's also nice to have good reviews too, so please leave a few of those too. **

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	2. The Fear

Fear

**Disclaimer: Yeah so I own everything... and pigs can fly! I also don't own Humberside and the story has no relation to any real person or thing in the real place. It is solely fictional.**

**Okay so I got another day off school and can now update! I might write two chapters today so I can post the other one tomorrow or Thursday so you guys don't have to wait forever for an update.**

**Thanks to my reviewers, Halogurl10 (especially), Jacky and Jennifer Anrang; and dizzypanda for putting it on alert. It's so great when you get a response so please keep reviewing it makes me want to write more! How about that for motivation? It doesn't take a lot of time to review either so click the review button and do that... REVIEW!!!**

**Okay so I figure that nothing interesting happens on the flight. Cameron reads and acts natural when House tries to interrogate her, if he does at all, but I figured he'd just sleep. Planes can't be good for infarctions after all.**

**Oh and I know Chase is Australian and I made him say that he'd never been out of the country but I might make that part of the story.**

House yawned as he wheeled his suitcase to the nearest bench. He was tired after the long flight and wanted to get some sleep. Foreman apparently had different intentions.

"Oh, no you don't! We're getting a taxi as soon as Cameron and Chase's suitcases come through. You can go to sleep when we get there, okay?" House groaned and looked at Foreman with wide eyes and a pouted lip. Foreman rolled his eyes at, what he supposed was, House's winning expression and turned to join the other two.

Chase's suitcase had come through but Cameron's was nowhere to be seen. She desperately searched for the deep blue case but found none. Chase could tell she was getting agitated but knew he, and nobody else for that fact, to help her calm down until she found her suitcase. She checked her watch and was dismayed to find that the last suitcase had come in over half an hour ago. There was only the team left in the small airport Cameron knew as Humberside.

Chase walked up to the help desk and tapped on the glass window, where an employee was talking on the phone. She smiled up at him and asked him to wait a minute. He smothered down a laugh at her _very _Hull-like accent but couldn't help but grin like a schoolboy.

"'ow can I 'elp you?" The woman asked Chase and it was all he could do to suppress hysterics. He bit his lip but immediately regretted it when he tasted the copper-tasting blood entering his mouth.

"Hello, I'm actually here on behalf of my friend. She's lost her suitcase and I'm wondering if you could tell me where it is or when it would arrive. Her name's Allison Cameron." The woman nodded knowingly and this made Chase brighten up no end. Cameron would be so grateful to him if he found her suitcase.

"Ah, yeah. I were jus' talkin' 'bout Dr. Cameron to this man on the phone. He said that there was some trouble an' they dint get it on the plane in time so it won't arrive 'til four more days but we can send it to ya if you give us ya contact de-ails." The woman's accent may have been funny but her words turned Chase's attention away from it. He would have to tell Cameron that she wouldn't have any of her possessions until more than half of the week through their stay in England. Something told him that she would not be as grateful for this news.

"Uh... thanks. Here's her number, I'll tell her that you'll call." Chase walked over to Cameron. It was the longest walk of his life and the tension grew inside of him as he went to tell her the news. She was still pacing from before he left and Chase saw how she frowned, deep in thought.

"Hey Cameron." He murmured, clearly dreading giving her this sort of news. Cameron turned to stare at him with crazy eyes. Couldn't he see that she was annoyed? Why didn't he just leave her alone?

"Your suitcase isn't coming." What did he mean? Of course it was coming. It would come eventually. He was just winding her up. "I talked to the woman and she said that she would send it to you in four days. That's when it's going to arrive." He squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation of what she would do.

"Well that's just _great_! Come on Chase, let's get the guys and call a cab. I'll be there in a second. I just need to call someone." Chase watched as she rounded the corner into the girls' toilets and sighed in dismay. She wasn't going to much fun to be around until her suitcase was found, and they had a meeting tomorrow. It was going to be a very long day.

"Where's Cameron?" House snapped, not too pleased by the fact that they were the last ones still in the tiny airport. Foreman rolled his eyes at House's tone from the bench where he sat.

"In the girls' bathroom. She's calling some... House, where are you going?"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

House snuck into the girls' bathroom and hid behind a stall while he listened to Cameron's conversation. Unfortunately he could only hear her end so not much of it made sense. He got out a notebook and a pen and scribbled down everything she said.

"The stupid airport people lost my suitcase... oh, okay... you don't have to... that's great El... really? She did!... What about you know who?... NO! Don't you dare tell him I'm here... yes, dad you idiot... who else would I be talking about?... Don't tell him I'm here because he'll want to see me and I really don't want to see him... Okay I'll come by tomorrow and meet you out back. Tell Seth hi... love you too... bye." She hung up and House ducked into the stall in an attempt to hide from her. He ducked too late though, and she spotted him.

"HOUSE! This is a GIRLS' bathroom!" She shrieked, going completely over the top.

"Why are you making such a big deal out of me being here? Is it because I heard your conversation? Why don't you want to see your dad? Why didn't you want to come to this conference?" House was highly amused at her horrified expression. Then he realised what it was, and it scared him. It was pure fear. She was so scared it shocked him; he'd never seen somebody so terrified.

And he never wanted to again.


	3. Alcoves and Hideouts

Alcoves and Hideouts

**Okay, so it's been a few days since I updated and I'm sorry about that. I was in a bad mood because I broke up with my boyfriend (actually he broke with me... BY TEXT!!!) and I didn't feel like writing. If I had written I might have killed everybody in this chapter so I decided that I should wait. Don't worry, nobody dies. I'm okay now. **

**So if you like this chapter please review, it'll make me feel happy and smiley (as always) so REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: I own everything... and elephants fly (I was going to say pigs but elephants are bigger) Oh and all places are fictional and NOT real. So don't go searching on Google for them (you know you want to).**

Cameron left at two o'clock in the morning. She had called a cab and had snuck out of the hotel room as not to wake House. She had hated his interrogation in the airport and didn't feel like having a repeat performance.

House had watched as Cameron had gotten into the cab and drove away before looking for his own. He found it hard to spot the cab because it looked like a normal car. When the man had asked him if he had been waiting for a taxi he had replied 'no, I'm just waiting for my cab to arrive.' He hadn't understood why the man had laughed at him but then he explained and House had got in.

She knew where she was going. She knew _exactly _where she was going. She could've recited the street names off by heart on the way. She didn't, of course; she just stayed quiet the whole journey. Getting out of the cab and seeing the all too familiar pub made Cameron's chest tighten and her heart race. She just stood there and allowed herself to calm off and steady her heartbeat before walking inside.

House watched her, from his little alcove, over his beer. The alcove was off to the side enough so that they wouldn't notice him, but not too far over so that he couldn't see them. By 'them' he meant the three adults and one teenager now sat to the side of the bar. Cameron was clearly the oldest at twenty-five. Then House guessed that it was either one of the other boy adults. They both looked about twenty one and then the teenage girl looked about seventeen.

Cameron, well the one he knew, was whispering into the seventeen year olds ear. The young woman's eye widened and she screamed at the man with the darker hair. House watched as the woman attempted to grab her drink but Cameron grabbed it first, laughing at the woman so hard that she spilt it all over herself. Cameron squealed and laughed. At first her other siblings had laughed but had immediately stopped at once and stiffened up when they noticed two men walk in. Cameron became aware of the awkward silence and looked up from her wet clothing.

House was forced to look away when he saw the horror-stricken face replace the happy expression Cameron had had not five seconds prior. House looked around and realised that the others were wearing expressions similar to Cameron's. The men, who had just entered, seemed amused by the reaction they had caused and House watched as, when one of the men took a step forward, Cameron took a protective step in front of the younger sister.

The move, however, didn't seem to go unnoticed by the man and the other, slightly bigger and more scary-looking man, laughed dryly and spoke.

"Now Allie, I won't hurt little Ellie here. You know I could never..." He was cut off by _Allie _before he managed to finish his sentence.

"What do you want Rick?" She snapped at him, taking a threatening step forwards towards the man, now named Rick. If the situation wasn't so unpredictable, House would've laughed at the thought of Cameron being a threat to the man, who was so clearly bigger than her. He could've taken her out with a single punch.

"Aw, come on Allie! Wait, you never told me you were in town." Allie broke eye contact almost immediately and cleared her throat nervously.

"Well... it... um... it was a... last minute thingy..." Cameron looked as if she would've blushed but didn't due to being obliged to stay a ghostly white.

"I'm sure." The man looked around before leaning in and whispering something into Cameron's ear. Cameron's eyes widened and she bit her lip but nodded before rushing out of the bar.

House noticed that the other three siblings had escaped whilst Cameron had been talking to Rick; they apparently weren't too keen to stay around and talk to the man who clearly petrified them.

The two men laughed at some joke House had not heard and were too busy at the bar to notice the old cripple, who had been listening to their previous conversation with Cameron, sneak out, leaving half a vodka on his table.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cameron ran out and opened her mouth just in time before her stomach rejected everything that she had eaten in a week. She didn't stop puking until a voice behind her made her jump.

"Either you're bulimic, which would explain a lot or..." House trailed off and Cameron interjected.

"Leave it House; it's got nothing to do with you." She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes and this didn't go unnoticed to the old man, he was, after all, the best diagnostician and was paid to notice little things that others would miss.

"What did he say to you? Who was he?" Cameron looked into his eyes with anger.

"An old..."

"If you say friend now I'm going to..."

"Uncle," House frowned.

"An old uncle," She sighed and sat down on a bench. "He's my family." She said it more to herself than to House and he realised this as he sat down next to her on the bench.

"Want to talk about it?" House said in an odd fashion. He wasn't used to caring, and he wasn't sure why he even cared now. All he knew was that he did care, or maybe he was just intrigued. He sighed.

"No. I don't think so. I guess I just want to go back to Princeton." House smiled at Cameron sympathetically. He had guessed she was damaged but he would never have thought that it was to this extent.

A few minutes passed and they both sat in comfortable silence next to each other; both preoccupied with thoughts of their own.

"He hurts her." House looked at Cameron with a puzzled expression upon his face. He didn't ask her what she was talking about; he waited for her to carry on when she was ready.

"Ellie... Adam sometimes looks after her when our father's out. He... he beats her up if he doesn't get his own way. You can't see unless you look really closely but she has bruises on her face. She has a split lip and walks with a slight limp because she sprained her ankle... well; Rick sprained her ankle; when he threw her down." House looked his immunologist up and down before wiping a tear that she hadn't been able to contain.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

The screaming came that night at 2:34am in the morning.

House was out of bead and by Cameron's side in a matter of seconds. She had screamed and started whispering frantically in her sleep.

"No! Please, I'll stop! I'll do anything, just please stop! Rick... Don't hurt me! Please don't do it! No, GET OFF HER!" House fell back in astonishment at the noise that Cameron was making now. He shook her awake with so much power and she grabbed his arms off her. "GET THE HELL OFF ME!!!" She yelled, before letting go and looking down ashamedly upon realising that it was only really House who was touching her.

"Cameron..." House whispered in a worrying voice. Now he knew that it hadn't just been Ellie Rick had beaten, he wanted to kill that man even more. "_What did that man do to you?_"

**Okay so I know it's a bit cliché but it's like the only way I could think of that would move that story along. I wanted to leave it on a cliff hanger. I've only got five reviews for my whole story so far and this is only my second week writing fan fiction so please let me know how I'm doing.**

**Abbie**

**Xxx**


	4. Fresh Wounds

In the Shadows 4

Fresh Wounds

**Hey guys it's been two days since I updated, or has it been three? I don't know. I'm just happy you guys seem to enjoy it but I would still appreciate more reviews. It's really nice to know the somebody is enjoying your work. Anyway so this chapter reveals some of Cameron's secrets but definitely not all of them. I also might send her suitcase back. She would probably appreciate that.**

**Disclaimer: Obviously I own it all... well gawd if you think that I do I'd see a psychiatrist or something! I don't own anything!**

Cameron tried to out-stare House. She realised that she wouldn't be able to and looked to her feet.

"Nothing happened, House. Go to sleep." She turned to get into the bed she had left a few moments prior but something stopped her. She tugged at her hand but House had gripped her arm like a vice and was showing no intentions of letting up.

"House..."

"No, Cameron. That guy did something to you and I want to know what. He beat Ellie and he hurt you too. Why? Tell me Cameron." He grabbed her other wrist and made her look into his eyes. He could now see the hurt that lay beneath them, the damage that he had known was there, but didn't see. Cameron, who was the most honest and caring person he knew, had lied. He felt bile rising in his throat and struggled to keep it down as he realised the truth in his own words. _Everybody Lies. _

"I deserved it. He didn't do anything wrong, I was just really naughty when I was younger and he had the job of punishing me." She closed her eyes when she said this for fear of looking into House's eyes and seeing judgement. He would see though her lies, she knew he would.

"How did he _'punish' _you? Did he beat you? Hit you and kick you? Or did he throw you out? Make you sleep outside? Maybe he..."

"Raped me." Cameron's words were choked and House felt the oxygen leaving his lungs as she confessed. He felt the pain she had hidden rise up to the surface and it sickened him. The fact that he couldn't leave this alone had caused her this pain she was in now. She would feel this pain for at least a month, the fact that she had confessed meant that she probably wouldn't be able to look him in the eye and that fact that she was filled with anger and hurt meant that she wouldn't be able to talk to him anymore.

"He raped you?" House's words were whispered and he fell to the bed as the impact of her words truly hit him. She had been raped; assaulted in the worst possible way and she was still this strong, beautiful doctor.

"Yes. From when I was eight to when I was eighteen. I left after that. I left Ellie by herself. I left the boys to fend for all. The boys were only fifteen, thirteen and ten! Ellie was ten as well! She had to fight not to be raped and beaten within an inch of her life by a man three times her age!" Cameron was screaming by the end. She was completely livid and had started to pace.

"But it wasn't your fault!" House exclaimed a frown upon his face as he watched Cameron blink to keep back the tears.

"I wasn't there for them! I wasn't there to protect them and I still aren't! Rick is still with Ellie and she's still getting hurt!"

House forced an unwilling Cameron to the bed. She broke down as soon as she was off her feet, tears falling freely and her not doing anything to stop them. House looked at the woman with great sympathy. She hadn't told anybody. House knew she hadn't. Ellie wouldn't still be getting beaten and raped if the police knew about Rick. She would be able to talk about it somewhat easier. House wasn't sure about the second reason but he was sure of the first. It was enough reason for him to act like a human for the first time in years and squeeze her hand.

"I'm sorry." Was all he could muster up. He was going to say 'it's okay' but it wasn't okay. It had never been okay from the time she was eight and it would never be okay again. Cameron would never forget and it was something that would constantly pain her.

House felt a murderous rage towards Rick; he had raped his nieces and beaten his nephews. Wait... wasn't Cameron's father with her uncle at the bar? Surely he knew? Why would a person have drinks with somebody who had raped his daughters? Beaten his sons?

"What about your father? Why was he talking to Rick at the bar if he knew? Didn't he know? Did you not tell him?" House was more musing to himself than asking Cameron but when stiffened, and climbed into the hotel bed she had claimed previously, he became suspicious.

"You told him." House knew the moment he had seen her face that she had. Her heart was broken and he could see a tear run down the side of her face onto the pillow.

"Yes." She turned away from him and squeezed her eyes closed. She didn't want to feel this pain. It was one thing to talk about Rick, but another, much worse, thing to talk about her father.

"Allison..." He couldn't help it; it slid off his tongue so easily and it sounded so right. Her first name made Cameron forget about Rick and her father for a moment. She almost smiled, but refrained from doing so.

"Leave it, _Greg_." She out emphasis on the 'Greg' and House didn't miss her mocking tone for a second. It wasn't a light mocking tone, it was one that deflected; one he had used many times before. He realised that she was just like him. She was even acting like him. This made him want to scream but he just stood still, too shocked to make a sound. Cameron, the caring one, the _good _one, was turning into him. A misanthropic son of a bitch. It made him shudder slightly, even if the hotel room was warm. No amount of warmth could help him, but it wasn't him who needed help. It was Cameron.

But he didn't know if he would be able to help her.

**Hey thanks to all my readers so far. I've got 32 different countries reading and I can't believe it! It's so great so please review and tell me what you think! **

**I thought I'd update because I nearly died yesterday and it cured my writers block. The bus I was on was on the tracks when the train came and the barrier was bashing the top of the bus but luckily the train stopped about ten meters away and I'm alive! **

**How about that for a near-death experience!**

**Please review!**


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